Rainbow connection

Care about rainbows? Have you ever wonder about the meaning of rainbows in our life as Christians? Have you ever wonder why there is a rainbow? Yes, perhaps scientifically-but have you wonder about it’s significance in our lives.
Just recently I wrote an article in other blog site (http://www.christianblog.com). It is about the rainbow connection in our Christian life.
 Rainbow is beautiful, being transient and aesthetically pleasing as aptly described in a line from a song “…the colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky…” But rainbow is more than this… it is also very meaningful and  significant to us as Christians.
Sir Isaac Newton, explained how a ray of light is diffracted into the colors through a glass prism that led to our understanding of light. But do we care enough to know its origin and not miss its meaning? I do, so I made an effort to study and write this humble article about rainbows. Although I must admit this article is partly inspired by the blog I read recently- Covenant of Salt –Part I and II. Upon reading the article, the Covenant of Rainbow comes to mind.
My fascination with rainbows started in early childhood. Every time, a rainbow appeared , I am overwhelmed . I always feel happy and lighthearted when I looked at the rainbow. My mother could not tear me away from the window. I would stay there long after the rainbow is gone. As a kid, I learned about the origin of the rainbow based on the story of Noah’s ark. But as gain maturity in my spiritual belief, I begin to attached greater significance to rainbows. Rainbows never cease to fascinate me, but this time there is a renewed feeling of comfort and assurance, that God is up there and is watching us.
Contrary from what I gathered from one of my sources, I found out that there were numerous references to rainbows in the bible , in fact from the beginning (Genesis) and to the end (Revelations.   In the first book of Genesis (Genesis 9:13-14), ; then in the book of Ezekiel (1:27-28) and on the last book (Revelation 4:3; 10:1). The term rainbow or bow appeared three times in the book of Genesis; once in Ezekiel; and twice in Revelation in two separate chapters. On the Genesis account, the rainbow came in the wake of the cataclysmic deluge the earth and men were subjected to. The rainbow symbolized the covenant God made with man not to destroy the world in such a way again (A.Boreano). In this covenant God establishes the principles for all government: (1) Sanctity of all human life established. Man responsible to protect life, even to capital punishment. (2) A Promise that another universal flood will not occur and the ground will not be cursed further. (3) Man's relationship to the animals and to nature is confirmed (Gen. 8:22, 9:2). (4) Man, oo y a vegetarian before the flood, is now allowed to eat meat (Lambert Dolphin)). And the covenant of Rainbow was made when the Lord pleased with Noah’s sacrifice promised to himself: 'I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.' And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; of every beast I will require it and of man; of every man's brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image. And you, be fruitful and multiply, bring forth abundantly on the earth and multiply in it.'
"Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 'Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.' And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.' God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth." (Gen. 8:21-9:17). This is the origin of the rainbow.
In other reference to the rainbow in the bible, it portrayed the radiance presence of God and his might in Ezekiel : “ The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord” (Eze.1:27-28); and at the climatic time of Christ's return, the cloud pictured by the great upheaval in the heaven and earth will be followed by the new covenant that the rainbow in the book of Revelation pictures him, with “ his face gleamed like such precious stones as jasper and carnelian, and all around the throne there was a rainbow the color of an emerald ( Rev. 4:3)."
"Then I saw another mighty angel coming down out of heaven. He was wrapped in a cloud and had a rainbow around his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like columns of fire” (Rev.10:1).

Biblical Significance of the Rainbow
Rainbow is a symbol of God’s covenant, love, glory and mercy. I am surprised that there is not enough literature relating to the biblical significance of rainbow. The rainbow is more than a phenomenon at the time of Noah – it is a symbol of God’s covenant. In the seven colors of the rainbow, beginning with red and ending with purple, God was displaying a natural miracle that demonstrated the complete redemption and salvation of man. In Ezekiel, the rainbow manifests as I mentioned earlier, the radiance presence of God:” It shone all over with a bright light that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord” (Eze.1:27-28); and in Revelation, symbolizes the glory, majesty and honor of Jesus Christ : “ his face gleamed like such precious stones as jasper and carnelian, and all around the throne there was a rainbow the color of an emerald ( Rev. 4:3)."
The rainbow most significantly demonstrates most gloriously the grace of God. The pure white light from the unapproachable holiness of His throne (1 Tim 6:16) is refracted, as it were, through the glory clouds surrounding His presence (1 Kings 8:10-11), breaking into all the glorious colors of God's creation. In wrath, he remembers mercy. the glory follows the sufferings; and where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (H. Morris)".
How many times do we look at the beautiful rainbow and thank God for keeping his promise. How many times do we look at the beautiful rainbow and remember our responsibility and part in the covenant. Have we upheld the sanctity of life? Have we been good stewards of what God has given us to rule and govern?
When we look on a rainbow. God looks with us, as he promised to remember his covenant. When we, as individuals, look at a rainbow and we remember also this same covenant there is a meeting of minds.
The rainbow should remind us of Noah an obedient man who made a voluntary sacrifice in which God was well pleased. This resulted in a pledge to preserve the earth. This is the gospel. The gospel has two parts, the salvation as a result of an obedient man and the promise of the kingdom on an earth where there is no more curse (Isaiah 51:3, Rev22:3).
Rainbow is a symbol of the process of salvation. We see God is the light (I John 1:5). We see humans 'drawn out' (or separated) from the 'sea' of nations (Acts 15:14) to form 'clouds' and God's glory shines as spiritual enlightenment through them, as the rain from the cloud comes down on the earth in 'showers' of blessing (Psalm 72:6, Rev.5:9-10). When we see this, then we see the meaning of the rainbow, the immense beauty of the promise of the first covenant

I say...does size really matters?

I had written this blog five years ag0.  Funny but what made me wrote it was a blog that asked : "does size really matters".  Is it? But mind you this blog certainly is not merely concerns with size or was it?
I think I could say without fear of contradiction that Filipino women have come a long way. I came across a blog that caters to women, although I'm not sure if it is exclusively for women but I feel so happy with the way they handle issues. Although I observed that it is purely women talk on lighter issues- I know soon I would be privy to more serious exchange of ideas. The topics like " does size matter" no longer make the women blushed. I read about some of the posted comments and I smiled. Frankly, I have never think much about it. By the way, does size really matter? But I have to comment on that later.
I had written about the new law on women- The Magna Carta on Women. I said it could be an emancipation of Filipino women- In my opinion, the emancipation of women is more than gender equality it is more on women empowerment. It is the right of women to speak their minds, to do what they want and not be dictated upon by false sense of morality. Our society has adjusted to the women liberation where women could do as they want. However, modern Filipinas are more discerning individuals- and are more assertive of their rights. They know what they want, and they certainly have a way at getting what they want. I could cite so many women who are modern icons and the list would be so long. How I admire their articulateness, and the things that they accomplished- While there are still who raised their eyebrows on single mothers; mistresses, lesbians- there are getting fewer. I see many women in compromised situations who rise above their mistakes and emerged not only stronger but winners in life.  The double standard of morality is not as intense as thirty years ago...  Before I forget - does size really matters ? Of course not, what matters is your man and how he put his whole consciousness-body and soul to put you both in blissful union. This what I say as I near my wonderful 60 years...

I care, you care, we care...please care

If you care enough-spread happiness   Literaryquote posted on Twitter: , " Remember that happiness is as contagious as gloom. It should be the first duty of those who are happy to let others know of their gladness". This is the essence of caring and living life. Let us spread joy, instead of woe. Let us make a difference in the life of others by caring enough to share the happiness that we have. There is no sense in living if live as we please uncaring and unmindful of others. Perhaps this is the problem why real peace eludes the world. All we care about is ourselves. The wasteful lifestyle and the destructive way we live easily endangered the lives of everyone on this planet. But still we do not bother. What this world needs is caring people. People who care enough to share happiness. There is so much that we can do to spread joy and happiness to our fellowmen, as there is so much that we can do to bring grief and loneliness to them. God has created us with a gift of free will, we have a choice whether we spread happiness or spread loneliness. If we spread goodwill, the return would be tenfold of bliss, but if we choose to bring pain and grief to others, the return would be tenfold woes. Let us be bothered and start caring. Spread happiness and be ten times happier.

When faith is all you have

Those were the times when I felt so low. Nothing seemed right. Those times I felt that I needed comfort but there was nobody who could comfort me enough, to ease the pain and the loneliness. I felt so drained, tired and unhappy. There were many worries, many problems and there was nothing I could do. In the deep recess of my heart I sought God. I found myself earnestly seeking Him. I want to be comforted by Him. I looked around for Him, suddenly, the urgency was overwhelming. I had to find Him. I sought Him out in everyone that I saw and in everything that I touched, until in the corner of the room, in a little table by the window- there I saw the Bible. My eyes were transfixed on that black hardbound book. That bible was a fixture in that little table, but that day, it seemed alive- as if beckoning me to pick it up. There was no hesitation, I went to it ,sat on a chair besides that little table. As I held the Bible , I did not open it at once. I brought it to my heart, embraced it tightly – clung to it as if my life depend on it. I held it until I felt warm all over, as if someone wrapped me in a warm blanket. I was comforted... I felt empowered. I opened the Bible randomly and it opened on Isaiah 41:10 “ So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”. All at once, my spirit was revived. I closed the book- with new resolve to face my problems to overcome the challenges that come with serving Him. I feel invigorated to face life again, to take on the responsibilities that I once felt to be overwhelming. At that time I realized that when faith is all I have... it(faith) is alone that matters. Our God the Almighty father is our only refuge- the source of our strength. Yes, I feel that the resurrected Christ is always there and that He patiently waits until we realized that we cannot do anything without him.  He eagerly awaits us to come to Him with the faith that He alone can make matters right in our life. We can cling to Him, especially in the darkest hour of our life  to ask for strength, to feel love and be loved. He is always there- like that Bible waiting for us, always ready to lift us from our sorrow, always ready to fill our spirit with the strength of His life giving words. When faith is all we have- do not fear- faith is all that matters... When faith is all we have...we have it all.

Stop worrying, instead count your blessings

I have been observing every person that I encountered everyday and what I always noticed about them is that many of them are whining. Complaining about everything. Well, I understand that life is really hard these days- what with the world-wide recession, the stressful traffic, unemployment, H1N1, high prices of commodity goods and so forth. But whining will not help us. Let us stop to think awhile. Perhaps we need to change our ways, let us become more appreciative despite of life difficulties. This is the prevailing theme of one of the short note that I post Yes life is hard, but then come to think of it- there is more to life than worrying. Worrying would not help us face the challenge of our times. But looking at things differently will do. There are still many things in this life to be thankful for- - that we are still alive and can still worry; the dead could not- that we still have air to breath no matter how stale - the dead could - that we can still eat- there are others who could no longer taste food- that we can still walk in our worn out shoes, there are people who have no feet at all- we can still hear the baby's cry, even the howling of dogs, the irritating noise of screeching wheels-still for those who could not-these could be music. There are many things to be thankful than being sorry. Sometimes we are overwhelmed by our problems, yet we have a God that is bigger than our problems. Let us count our blessings and we will see that we have a hundredfold of them that our difficulties. I believe that looking at our difficulties in a bigger frame of mind will embolden us, give us the confidence to take the challenges of life. This morning I realize that worrying will get me nowhere. But a change of attitude will...

She says

I think I could say without fear of contradiction that Filipino women have come a long way. I come across a blog that caters to women, although I'm not sure if it is exclusively for women and I feel so happy with the way they handle issues. Although I observed that it is purely women talk on lighter issues- I know soon I would be privy to more serious exchange of ideas. The topics like " does size matter" no longer make the women blushed. I read about some of the posted comments and I smiled. Frankly, I have never think much about it. By the way, does size really matter? But I have to comment on that later.

I had written about the new law on women- The Magna Carta on Women. I said it could be an emancipation of Filipino women- In my opinion, the emancipation of women is more than gender equality it is more on women empowerment. It is the right of women to speak their minds, to do what they want and not be dictated upon by false sense of morality. Our society has adjusted to the women liberation where women could do as they want. However, modern Filipina are more discerning individuals- and are more assertive of their rights. They know what they want, and they certainly have a way to getting what they want. I could cite so many women who are modern icons and the list would be so long. How I admire their articulateness, and the things that they accomplished- While there are still who raised their eyebrows on single mothers; mistresses, lesbians- there are getting fewer. I see many women in compromised situations who rise above their mistakes and emerged not only strongers but winners. The double standard of morality is not as intense as thirty years ago. But I don't imply that modern women have no sense of morality- they have but they a discerning kind of morality. Before I forget - does size really matters ? Of course not, what matters is your man and how he put his whole consciousness-body and soul to put you both in blissful union.

If you care enough-spread happiness

From twitter, I read about a quote shared by literaryquote that says, " Remember that happiness is as contagious as gloom. It should be the first duty of those who are happy to let others know of their gladness". This is the essence of caring and living life. Let us spread joy, instead of woe. Let us make a difference in the life of others by caring enough to share the happiness that we have. There is no sense living if live the way we please uncaring and unmindful of others. Perhaps this is the problem why real peace eluded this earth. All we care about is ourselves. The wasteful lifestyle and the destructive way we live easily endangered the lives of everyone on this planet. But still we do not bother. What this world needs is caring people. People who care enough to share happiness. There is so much that we can do to spread joy and happiness to our fellowmen, as there is so much that we can do to bring grief and loneliness to them. God has created us with a gift of free will, we have a choice whether we spread happiness or spread loneliness. If we spread goodwill, the return would be tenfold of bliss, but if we choose to bring pain and grief to others, the return would be tenfold woes. Let us be bothered and start caring. Spread happiness and be ten times happier.